Alara ambled her way down the road towards the library, her hands tucked behind her and her hair fluttering in the wind, with Memor following behind.
"You know the meaning of era, right?" Alara asked.
"I know at least that much,"Memor replied.
Alara stopped and turned to Memor, her expression was one of suppressed aggression"I assumed you know nothing, and you know nothing, understand?"
"Yes ma,am."Memor didn't oppose her judgment, he was the student there, and an unattentive student gets ejected from the classroom.
They continued walking with Alara looking down in thought then she spoke."There was a time before Passion's Curse, around three, four thousand years ago, where there were the four Grade 6 Laners."
"The Memory domain, had Mnemosyne, the Will domain, had Thelema the Passion Domain, had Eros, and the Intellect domain, had Nous. They shared their gifts amongst one another, building prosperous empires housing millions of souls. People adored them, worshipped them, and praised their generosity."
Alara paused and asked, baffled."I still can't believe you don't know this, it's a children's story."
"That is if I had anyone to tell me stories."Memor replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"Alara's speech fizzled out.
Seeing how down she was from hearing his answer, Memor comforted."I never met them, in fact, I don't even know their names. It doesn't make me sad, I live a great life here, the ones that truly need the blessing are those who lost family."
Aara spun around to look at Memor for a moment and then turned back. She said, her voice a bit morose."So you know."
"I heard from Calypso,"Memor said.
They stayed silent for a moment, their walking ceased. From behind Memor could see the slight shiver in her hand and the raised up shoulders of hers.
Alara continued moving, her gait much slower and a little tense, then she said."You wouldn't mind hearing me opening up a bit?"
"Sure,"Memor answered.
Hesitating for a moment, Alara said."Sometimes I wonder if my mother was ever real."
What a way to start. Memor didn't reply.
"The memories I have of her are vague and fleeting, pieced up into sections that don't connect."Alara chortled softly in melancholy."Was I 6 back then? I'm not sure."
Alara turned around to face Memor, her eyes glimmering in the setting sun much more as tears welled up in her eyes, as she came to a realization a faint smile appeared on her lips, then in the best lady impression she could muster, she said."Mr.Memor, you really are a bastard in the flesh making me think of my mother again."
Memor smiled softly and said like a gentleman."Well Miss Alara, I believe your mother doesn't wish to be forgotten, and nor do you wish to forget her. You're struggling against a pull from the past…maybe you should ask your father about her, find some closure in her existence."
Tears finally couldn't hold on any longer, streaming down her eyes as she said,"You really are a bastard."
Before Memor could say anything more, Alara had hugged him, resting her head against his chest, the silkyness of her hair caressing his tunic.
How unfortunate…I guess a hug couldn't hurt. Memor wrapped his arms around her, one hand patting her head the other on her shoulder.
Amidst their embrace, Memor heard a whisper from Alara."Thank you."
Why thank me? I spoke on a whim. They stayed motionless for a minute, before Alara pulled away, wiping her tears with her sleeve and said."I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright."Memor said.
It makes sense why she's like this, Iro had just adopted Natalie and Alara has to deal with it somehow. Their relationship will be a hard one to figure out. Natalie wouldn't want Alara to act like her sister as she had just lost hers, so the only family member Alara could act as was a mother…
After sweeping away her tears, Alara's eyebags puffed in redness, but her gaze was much clearer now. Looking Memor, Alara could help but let out a slight chuckle.
Memor looked down at his tunic, two streaks of moist tears drew lines down. Memor looked up and smiled then said."Tell me this doesn't look like I'm crying with my nipples?"
Alara chuckled, then turned around and kept walking."no it doesn't…"
"...Oh right, where was I? Right, after the 4 Laners shared their gifts with the lands, they lived peacefully for hundreds of years, till Thelema's curiosity got the better of him, he sought a memory that tortured Mnemosyne for as long as he could remember and shared it to his equals, igniting an anger in them not to be quelled for years to come. Mnemosyne's was blamed and sacrificed by the other domain leaders so as to extricate the horrid memory from their souls. Their verbal anger transgressed into the annihilation of Mnemosyne and his land…"
"...Thelema and Nous fought Mnemosyne in his own domain, while Eros cursed his land. In an attempt to protect the Memory domain from Eros's curse, Mnemosyne lost his life diminishing the effects of Eros's curse, which currently turns humans and beasts who have not adapted into animals of insanity and madness by churning their emotions."
"You know this right?"Alara asked, a sly smile playing on her lips.
Memor nodded without saying anything, he was too invested to reply.
Alara continued."As for what happened after that, Mnemosyne's soul was sent to Whirl, and when he saw the horrors of the place, he split a section of himself to experience life at Whirl. It was unacceptable to him. He created a space in his mind where his believers could rest…
"...Despite their aggression against him, Mnemosyne allowed the other three Grade 6 Laners to rest in his memory after their deaths."
"How'd they die?" Memor asked in puzzlement.
Alara stopped, as she had reached her destination, to her left the larger marble structure shimmered through their stained windows, she then said."Their deaths happened a few days after Mnemosyne's, their existence couldn't be sustained without the presence of Mnemosyne."
Were they too mindless to know they couldn't sustain their beings without Mnemosyne? Or were they corrupted by the memory Thelema shared, that reasoning was beyond them?
"Of course, after their fall, our world lost their gifts, each region was thrown into chaos, until…well, until it was not so crazy anymore. Anyways this is my stop, I can't miss out on my daily reading."Alara waved and said."Farewell, Mr.Memor."
Memor reciprocated, though he hadn't spoken as he was pondering the knowledge Alara had just bestowed upon him.Absent-mindedly, Memor strolled his way home.
Standing at his doorway, Memor turned its handle, his mind still occupied with the information he had just received, he had many theories as to why and how the four Grade 6 Laners had fallen, but in conclusion, his conjectures ended in deadlocks as he had insufficient information.
Opening his door, Memor caught the flickering of his candle lantern at his desk, it advertised the occasion of a visitor. Sat cross-legged at his table, Spyro stacked his books into a pyramid of sorts, the books balanced despite the rules that bound them. At the peak of the pyramid, the Red-leathery covered book with the title 'Love by Guillotine' poised motionlessly on one of its corners, at the peak of the book pyramid.
Memor entered and sat on his mattress, not greeting nor acknowledging the presence of Councilor Spyro.
What does he want with me again? And Uncle Ceres, what'd he do when he came to your cabin?
'A search.'
Suddenly the pyramid of books tumble, some of its components tumbling onto the floor. Staring straight at the wall, Councilor Spyro spoke, his voice devoid of any emotion."You're going to die on your next mission, and not even your uncle can save you child."